No, I really mean 10.01 kg. While there are a few resin bits, most of the contents are metal including all the stuff I added (which I hope others can use).I have re-weighed the box on some cooking scales - you were right Kyuss it is ~1.00kg, not 10.01kg - dratted PO scales.
This does raise the question, when should we consider splitting Waldo into two or more packages to cut the postage, and how to proceed in the future? Sending it to local addresses in a given country will be relatively cheap, but when sent internationally the cost rises sharply. Bertnernie has just replied regarding the cost to send it to him which is not cheap. To illustrate the point I checked out the various options with my local post office and also on the internet:-
UK Post Office
- Standard parcel is £9.50, with insurance costing an additional £20.00
- Tracked parcel is $14.50, with insurance costing an additional £50.00
Delivery for both is roughly 5-8 days
Other possibilities are:-
- WPS European Road which costs £27.59, with insurance covered to £50 and delivery 3-5 days
- Parcel Force, Global Value which costs £72.66, with insurance covered for £100 and delivery in 5-8 days
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The point is that we all have spare "bits" that others can use, which means that the weight of the entire package will rise significantly while it travels along the chain until each person can claim the stuff they want. Perhaps we can amend the process as follows
- The person holding the travelling package ("Waldo") adds his spare bits to the list, takes pictures etc. and posts the result on this thread.
- People lay claim to 'unclaimed' bits in the list and PM their address details to the person holding "Waldo".
- After a few days, the person holding "Waldo"
- checks the postage of the various parcels,
- emails the cost of each to those requesting specific bits
- emails the cost of sending "Waldo" to the next person
- Everyone uses Paypal to pay for the relevant postage.
- The person holding "Waldo" sends out requested bits to their destinations, and sends "Waldo"on to the next person, who repeats the above process
If we were to adopt this approach right now;
- people wanting specific bits would pm me their addresses
- I would check the costs, they would use PayPal to pay me
- I would then send the slimmed down "Waldo" to Bertnernie (who would pay a much reduced postage)
- Bertnernie would add his bits, post the new list, repeat this process and send "Waldo" on to Kyrt etc.
This way "Waldo" will be kept to a more sensible size and weight reducing the postage, and people will get the bits they actually want a lot quicker. There is a bit more effort to send out multiple packages but the whole thing is more targeted.
Note,
- If it turns out that people do not want the bits they claimed, they simply add them back into the 'list' when their turn comes round.
- Inevitably there will be some stuff that is 'unclaimed' - (possibly JZ's stuff that started the whole ball rolling LoL ). Perhaps there should be a time limit or something beyond which these 'unloved' bits are just trashed?
So, What do you think guys???